When consumers wash their clothes, they often want the fabric to come out looking clean and feeling soft. Conventional detergents often provide desirable stain removal and whiteness benefits, but washed fabrics typically lack the “soft feel” benefits that consumers enjoy. Fabric softeners are known to deliver soft feel through the rinse cycle, but fabric softener actives can build on fabrics over time, and can lead to whiteness negatives over time. Furthermore, detergents and fabric softeners tend to be sold as two different products, making them inconvenient to store, transport, and use. Some detergents may include silicone and/or cationic polymers, but these detergents may not deliver satisfactory softness, cleaning, and/or whiteness performance to the consumer.
Thus, there is a continued need to formulate detergents that provide improved softness benefits.